Gull Bay's only school closed, reserve 'basically broke': new chief

The federal government has sent nearly a million dollars in emergency funding to a northern Ontario reserve it is auditing amid questions over the use of taxpayer dollars, even as the community’s only school remains shuttered.

The Gull Bay First Nations school, which runs from Kindergarten to Grade 8, closed its doors around the same time the former chief is said to have thrown, apparently in his capacity as chief, two Christmas parties and a New Year’s Eve fete that included dinner and live music, one attendee told the National Post.

New chief Wilfred King, who was narrowly elected on Jan. 13 after being voted out in 2010, claims the previous council mismanaged the band’s finances and said he is working to clean up the books, re-open the school and re-staff the health clinic.

Regardless of how the community arrived at this dire situation, band members are today facing frozen pipes and no running water, crowded housing with little or no heat, missing band-owned equipment, and only interim staff hired to key posts.

As of Monday morning, we were basically broke — bankrupt

Mr. King said when he left council two years ago, he had just months before pulled the band out of third-party management and left the incoming government with $1.2-million in its coffers. But when he resumed his duties on Jan. 14, he said the general pot was drained and that some accounts, including the one that pays welfare cheques, were overdrawn.

“As of Monday morning, we were basically broke — bankrupt,” said Mr. King, who, like many of Gull Bay’s 1,225 band members, lives off reserve in nearby Thunder Bay.

A spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan said Thursday the government is now working with Mr. King to tackle what Ottawa deems “serious issues.”

“An audit is also underway to ensure that the tax dollars invested in the community are properly accounted for,” Jan O’Driscoll said.

At a Jan. 18 meeting with Mr. King and council members, federal officials promised to provide emergency funds to re-open the school and resume essential services, the department confirmed. On Tuesday, Aboriginal Affairs deposited $890,502.20 into the Gull Bay bank account. The department is also slated to provide another $100,000 specifically for a school inspection and related repairs.

The latest publicly available financial record for the band dates back to 2007-2008, about five years into Mr. King’s earlier tenure, and shows the community received more than $5-million from the aboriginal affairs department alone. No financial reporting has since been posted to the department’s website, and the 2007-2008 report does not include federal funding from other departments — such as Health Canada, which Mr. King said provided the community with a further $280,000 late last week.

Since the Jan. 13 election, Mr. King has maintained a Facebook page openly questioning former chief Miles Nowegijick’s management of band funds, posting copies of federal correspondence and a photo of a document showing purportedly overdrawn bank accounts. But Donna Blouin, a Thunder Bay nurse who regularly deals with the Gull Bay office, defended the former chief, claiming Mr. King’s public condemnation is nothing more than a bid to shore further support after he and some of his cousins were elected.

Ms. Blouin is among the Thunder Bay residents compensated by the band for hosting Gull Bay children as they attend high school in the city, but the latest cheque — $900 for two students — bounced this week. She said she never had trouble cashing cheques under Mr. Nowegijick.

Mr. Nowegijick could not be reached for comment. Ms. Blouin has been in touch with him since the election and said he is “beside himself” over allegations of financial impropriety and claims that he blocked disloyal councilors from participating in band business.

Louis Brizard, a re-elected councillor who Mr. King said was in Mr. Nowegijick’s inner circle, declined to comment.

“I’m not saying nothing until I talk to Miles,” he said in a brief telephone interview.

Kenny King — Gull Bay’s fire chief, a band councillor and the new chief’s cousin — said his staff has for periods gone without water or heat in the fire hall. Beyond that, he said the station’s only two large stepladders — necessary for scaling onto roofs or into windows — have gone missing.

OPP Sergeant Jonathan Bergsma, of the nearby Armstrong detachment, said he is “aware of the concerns on the reserve,” but said the Gull Bay Police Service must field a formal report before the provincial service will consider getting involved.